but john boehner can rail against it which will make it easier for john boehner to sell to his conference. i think it's far fetched. i don't think either of these men, president obama or john boehner, want to see this country go off the fiscal cliff. there's obviously too much at stake not only politically but for the lives and welfare of americans. i think that's foremost in their mind, even given all the politics. so thelma and louise, whatever conspiracy theories we see right now, they might be justified because we're at a standoff at least publicly right now as we head into december, alex. >> mike viqueira at the white house, thanks for that. >>> joining me for more front page politics, perry bacon junior and political contributor for the "washington post." perry, the president's plan is pretty ambitious. what is the strategy here? >> the strategy is to move this debate to the left. i mean, a lot of times you saw in these first four years obama would kind of start in the center on a plan and then the republicans could move to the right a little bit. in this plan, obama knows republica